Editing 3125: Snake-in-the-Box Problem

{{comic
| number    = 3125
| date      = August 6, 2025
| title     = Snake-in-the-Box Problem
| image     = snake_in_the_box_problem_2x.png
| imagesize = 359x611px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = Chemistry grad students have been spotted trying to lure campus squirrels into laundry hampers in the hope that it sparks inspiration.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by a popular Nokia phone game. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic makes fun of the fact that many fields of science use analogies to help visualize complex problems. One such analogy, drawn in the comic, involves a snake on the edges of an n-dimensional hypercube, which is in fact a problem in graph theory called {{w|snake-in-the-box}}. In this problem, a snake is coiled around the edges of an ''n''-dimensional hypercube. No two adjacent corners of the cube can be occupied by non-consecutive parts of the snake (i.e., the snake can't come near itself). The problem involves finding the longest snake for a box of a given dimension. This problem has been solved up to an 8-dimensional cube, but unsolved for 9 dimensions and up.

The other thought experiment referred to is {{w|Schrödinger's cat}}, which is used in quantum physics. In this thought experiment, a cat is put in a box which contains poison, a radioactive source and a Geiger counter, which absolutely fits the definition of a weird box. Schrodinger's cat could be either dead or alive, and because it's impossible to know if it's alive without observing it (by opening the box), it is assumed to be both dead and alive simultaneously from a quantum point of view, until the box is opened and the cat is observed to be either dead or alive.

The comic jokes that while graph theory and quantum physics have identified their "cute animal in a box" thought experiments, other fields have yet to "discover" their own analogies. The title text takes this further by claiming that chemistry students have been trying to fix the lack of cute-animal-in-box thought experiments in their field by attempting to trap a squirrel with a laundry basket. It is unclear how squirrels in laundry baskets might contribute to the understanding of chemistry problems {{citation needed}}.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[A panel with text both above and below the illustration, with further text outside the panel below.]
:[In the panel, above the illustration:]
:A snake slithers around a hypercube. No two non-consecutive parts of its coils can be on adjacent corners.
:[Three small illustrations of 4-dimensional hypercubes, each with a snake slithering around its edges. Each illustration has a red line or lines indicating an edge or edges where two non-consecutive parts of the snake are on adjacent corners. Below each hypercube is a red X.]
:[A large illustration depicting a 4-dimensional hypercube with a snake slithering around its edges.]
:[Below the large illustration is text printed in green. To the left of the text is a green checkmark.]
:Dimensions=4
:Max length=7
:[The following text is printed in black, except for the last word "UNSOLVED" which is printed in red:]
:Snake(N) = Largest snake that can fit in an N-dimensional hypercube
:Snake(N=1, 2, 3 .. 8) = 1, 2, 4, 7, 13, 26, 50, 98
:Snake(N>8) = UNSOLVED

:[Text outside the panel:]
:It turns out every scientific field has a key thought experiment that involves putting a cute animal in a weird box for no reason.
:So far, quantum mechanics and graph theory have found theirs, but most other fields are still working on it.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Animals]]